Need your help & suggestion

KendraMc

it can take the fish some time to figure out what is food. i feed zucchini for my pleco and the first time he barely ate any of it. now, a few weeks later, there is barely any left after 24 hours.

swapnil

I added a small piece of PVC pipe in tank...Clown Loaches sleep there every night :D I think I must add more hiding places,that is the key. Thank you Byron for encouraging me...I never tried to understand them :(

1. Now I would like to replace my gravel by adding sand. Which sands would be perfect for clown loaches ?

2. I think my light is so bright for them,which light would be ok for them?

3. Which plants are compatible with clown loaches ?

4. One more query,I have Internal Filter,does it also help in creating oxygen ?

My filter is of SOBO,Model is WP-1301F,10 WATT.
I also have Air pump of SOBO.Model-SB-548A,3 WATT

Do I really need Air pump?

Thank you in advance :)

Byron

I use common playsand from Home Depot (Lowe's also carry it I believe). It is gray/tan dry. Takes a lot of rinsing to remove most of the dust/dirt, but now that I have it in 3 tanks I really like it. You can also buy dark sand made for aquaria, but it will be quite expensive by comparison to playsand.

Some use silica sand, but that is not good because of the silicates which can cause problems with diatoms (brown algae). Also it is usually white, and the substrate should be as dark as possible. The playsand when wet is not as dark as it is dry, but with wood, plants, etc. it works quite well.

Blasting sand is not advisable either because it can be sharp. This can damage the barbels and skin of fishes like loaches that dig in the substrate and will burrow into it. And loaches are scaleless fish, so even more critical.

Light is needed for the plants, so I always use the minimum light necessary for the plants. Then, use floating plants to shade the tank. And with lots of wood, rock, pipe over the bottom, and plants, it will be fine.

Strong substrate-rooted plants like swords (Echinodorus species) work well. Loaches like to dig, and this can uproot delicate plants like stem plants. Anubias and Java Fern rooted on some of the wood or rock works well. And definitely floating plants.

No. Plants produce oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis. Plus, there is a gaseous exchange at the surface, CO2 out, oxygen in. Provided the tank is not overstocked with fish, there will be no shortage of oxygen in a planted tank. Minimal water movement is beneficial for the plants as it reduces the exchange that drives off CO2, an essential macro-nutrient for plants.